3. Last year I knit myself a sweater, and I really like it. Now that it’s all finished and I have worn it a few times I’m noticing a few things here and there that keep me from loving it. I want a sweater (or two) that I love. I should be able to accomplish such a thing.

4. Marathon of Warmth. This is my biggie. I am not a runner (though I think every now and again I would like to be) and I’m not likely to get a marathon under my belt any time soon (I’ll be honest. I hate to sweat.). So, I’m going to try and knit (or crochet) a marathon’s worth of yarn for charity. I’m not doing this by myself. Betsy, aka theatreknitter, is the one who had the idea and I backed her up on it. I’ll share more details and links as I post about it. You could like us on Facebook to start? Our plan is to knit / crochet for assorted charities – first up is HatLoveKnits, we’re each planning to do hats for LGBT homeless teens. I have a few HeartCats lined up for a few special people, there’s always PatPatsHats, and we’ll be sharing other causes too. Part of this also involves fundraising for the Closer To Free ride to benefit the Smilow Cancer Hospital.

Hello Monday! We’re still in vacation mode (minus a dentist appointment later today). This is a highly enjoyable change of pace. I think the kids have settled in to the “at home” routine, and calmed down a bit from the excitement of last week. Over the weekend I caught up on a few podcasts and just sat and knit. I’m working on a sample scarf that is knit in a laceweight mohair / silk. It’s lovely, and will be gorgeous when it is finished. Working on this has confirmed for me that I do not like laceweight – I feel like I’m knitting with dust bunnies! I made decent progress (maybe 8 or 10 inches?) and then last night when I was trying to get to the end of the row (only 32 stitches!) a stitch slipped and then another and another. And then came a bunch of muttering as I tried to recover the yarn overs in the proper spot. That’s when you know it’s a good time to just stop.

We’re looking at the end of 2013. The days were long but the year is short, as always. We dealt with major health issues among family members, we enjoyed a lot of family time together, and through it all I knit. When I have everything logged into knitmeter.com, it shows me I knit 4.93 miles of yarn and I crocheted 1.87 miles of yarn. Not too bad and maybe I’m not such a newbie crocheter anymore!

I didn’t do so great at following my resolutions or intentions this year. I didn’t do as many sample knits as I wanted, I didn’t read as many books as I wanted, I certainly fell down on the charity knitting, I increased my stash and increased my Ravelry queue. I did get back into podcasts – I particularly enjoy watching video podcasts. My intentions for 2014 are still formulating – I’ll be sharing them on December 31.

Hello! Merry Christmas! Hopefully you had a lovely holiday season, I feel very lucky to say that I did. Among all the events (and noise, oh the noise) there was a lot of love and laughter. I love Christmas, I do, but I also love the days after it all to recover and be lazy. Again, thankful that I can do that. So, it is Friday and I can share the FOs I made over the last few weeks!

I do still have a few knits to work on for gifts, but they will be happy surprises and well wishes for the new year and that is ok. I did knit Dan a pair of socks and they were finished in time for Christmas. As he is certainly knit-worthy, I used “Bugga” yarn and the Simple Skyp pattern knit mostly two-at-a-time. I so want a pair of these for myself!! I can see this becoming a real go-to pattern.

I knit a pair of fingerless mitts for Betsy, because how often does a knitter get a handmade gift? I was first sold on the yarn, a superwash merino worsted weight from MarigoldJen on etsy – the colorway is “Fairy Dust”. The pattern is Stulpen, but I had to modify for this weight of yarn. Luckily my guesses and instincts on what to change / where (and thanks to the notes of other Ravelry users) and they fit perfectly. I will make this pattern again, probably with some of this yarn – nice combination that was difficult to part with.

On my needles now is a scarf for Dan, a sample scarf for a yarn company, and those two other gifty items. I’m taking stock of my yarns and project ideas for a rather ambitious project that I’m looking forward to telling you about next week! Enjoy the weekend!

This blog has been quiet for a while and the digital dust has started to gather. All is well, life is just busy. There has been a wonderful run of celebrations (anniversary, Thanksgiving, gathering with friends, someone around here turned 6, there’s another birthday today) and still more to come. I keep meaning (and wanting) to post, but other stuff has had to take priority. So, I’m making it official, this blog is on a bit of a break. I’ll be back on December 27!